Top Speed
by hcsp1
Summary: Following an accident which happened a long time ago, Sonic swore to himself that he will never run ay his top speed again. But what will he do when Eggman's latest creation leaves him no choice?


**It's been a while since I've written a Sonic story...**

 **Anyway, this was inspired by a YouTube video called "Game Theory: How Fast is Sonic? DEBUNKED". You don't have to watch it in order to understand this story, but if you've watched it you will get the connection.**

 **Hope you will enjoy!**

* * *

Speed is a thing everyone has heard of, but not a thing everyone is able to achieve. It's mostly viewed as a good thing, but it can also be considered a bad one depending on just how fast one goes.

To many, the first thing they think of when the subject of speed comes up, or rather the first guy they think of, is none other than the world's famous hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue hedgehog is known for stopping the evil schemes of Dr. Eggman for taking over the world; but the other most known thing about him is the incredible speed he's able to move in. No one knew how he came to have it, not even Sonic himself who always claimed to have been born with this amazing gift, and no one knew how fast Sonic can actually go.

As opposed to the first question which even Sonic couldn't answer, he knew very well what his top speed was. He also swore himself to never reach that top speed ever again, at least not while he was around other living beings he could potentially hurt, like he did his best friend long ago.

* * *

It started as a regular day in one of the many forests Sonic and his new best friend, Miles Prower also known as Tails, liked to hang out in. They were just back from their big adventure on a floating island in the sky, stopping the evil Dr. Eggman from once again attempting to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds in order to take over the world, and they were interested in taking a bit of time to relax themselves.

While hanging out together, Tails dared to ask his older friend a question. "Hey Sonic, can I ask you something?" The chubby blue hedgehog turned to look at his orange fox friend with the two tails and nodded his head. "Okay, what is the fastest speed you can run at?" The young fox asked, excitement to find out the answer filling his eyes. Much to his dismay however, Sonic simply shrugged, not knowing the answer himself. "You don't know?" The fox was surprised by Sonic's response. "Well, based on what I know you could probably break the sound barrier while you're Super Sonic." Tails theorized once he remembered how fast Sonic was able to move while using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, like he did in their latest adventure not too long ago. "But can you reach it on your own?"

Sonic shrugged again at the question, though he looked a lot more interested in finding out the answer now than he was before. Trying and reach this unbelievable speed without the power of the emeralds would be a challenge, but he was never one to shy away from what could be considered an adventure. Once his centered mind decided to check it out, Sonic gave Tails a nod in order to signal that he wanted to test his speed now. Tails was more than ready to examine the results.

Tails marked a relatively short course for Sonic to run through, not wanting him to run off farer away than needed. "Just run these few meters so I'll be able to determine how fast you're going." Sonic nodded at his best friend as he was warming up by stretching his arms and legs. After Tails moved to the side he started counting down backwards and once he reached zero, Sonic blasted away faster than he has ever gone before on his own.

For the few seconds this run has lasted, it felt incredible. There was no sound, there was no definitive color to anything, and there were no restrictions. It was only Sonic and the wind which surrounded him as he ran forward, feeling incredibly similar to whenever he used the power of the emeralds, only this time he achieved this by himself. In fact, it felt so great that he didn't even notice he went slightly beyond the mark Tails made for him.

Once the hedgehog stopped in his tracks, the sound came back to his ears and the world around him received its colors back, he turned around to where Tails was with a proud smirk on his face. Only when Sonic turned around, he no longer grinned, he was staring forward with a shocked and fearful stare as he saw Tails lying on the grass beneath him. With no time to waste Sonic speeded towards the fallen fox, this time slower than he ran before.

He shook Tails's un-conscious body in the hopes that he will wake up, fearing he might have caused an un-reversible damage to his young friend. To his relief, Tails opened his eyes shortly after which caused Sonic a huge relief. The hedgehog might not have talked, but his expression was everything Tails needed to know in order to realize that he didn't just faint. "Sonic…" He said weakly as he slowly got up from the ground while Sonic still supported him. "I… think you have just broken the sound barrier…" He mumbled.

On the one hand Sonic should have been proud of his accomplishment, reaching speeds humans and other animals could only dream of moving at; but at the same time the effects of his running caused harm to Tails, his best friend and the closest thing he had to a little brother. True, he ended up fine after a few minutes of recovering, but this scenario alone was enough for the blue hero; as on that same day he swore to himself that he will never run that fast again.

* * *

When he first met Eggman, Sonic promised that he will use his gift of speed to protect the world from the scientist's evil schemes. But then he realized that his speed could cause just as much harm as it can help him do well; and if he wanted to keep doing the latter, he should watch his step.

As the years passed, Sonic turned from a fascinated and excitable kid into a self-confident and adventurous teenager. With age, his sense of responsibility grew, and so did his abilities. He was still sticking to his word of protecting the world from Eggman's plans to take it over, which was a hard enough promise to fulfill when the doctor's plans became more and more complicated to overcome. Never the less, he never gave up, standing up to every challenge and doing his best to make do in every predicament he found himself in.

With each challenge he faced, his self-confident grew to the point he believed nothing could bring him down as long as he has air in his lungs. He went into every situation, every battle and every adventure with a bunch of quips to throw at his enemies and with the knowledge that he would come out on top. Despite the strong, and somewhat cocky figure Sonic was viewed as by the public, no one knew about the one challenge the hedgehog was facing on a daily basis and was actually afraid he would lose to…

Keeping his speed in check

Sonic knew well enough that throughout the five to six years since the accident with Tails happened, his speed only grew. Along with his hair, his legs and his ability to speak, his speed was growing alongside him. He would practice running every day in order to make sure he's fine with keeping himself limited and not go over said limit. If creating a sonic boom caused Tails to be knocked out for a few seconds years ago, who knows what will happen now when he's significantly stronger and more capable?

However, while his speed grew over the years so did his control over it. Sonic's speed limit seems to change every year or so thanks to his ability to control his running better. If previously he would allow himself to reach a speed close enough to Mach 1, now he could reach speeds which are slightly lesser than it. This made him able to go faster than before, but also kept him from reaching a sonic boom and causing damage to his environment and those surrounding him. As he practiced more and more, Sonic became more confident with his running, especially when a light blue aura seemed to appear before him once he was close to Mach 1. He used this visual as a signal which told him that he should cap off his acceleration there, in order to not cause any damage. But even with better control over his speed and visual signals warning him, the blue hedgehog still feared the day he might accidently go above what he set for himself.

What if one day he'll get caught in the heat of the moment and forget? Or what if he would have no choice but reaching Mach 1, if that's even his top speed now when he's grown up?

Even though the thoughts hunted him every once in a while, Sonic never dedicated enough thought to them and counted on his will and signals to do the job and make sure he will never repeat the same mistake again. He was still the same adventurous friendly hedgehog everybody knew, who could never stand to see a frown on somebody's face. Nobody but Tails knew about his biggest fear and he planned to keep it like that.

* * *

It was another ordinary afternoon. The sun was just beginning to set, casting shadows over the city and the many forests and grassy hills surrounding it, while also painting the sky with an orange color and a bit of purple popping in. While every time was a great time for an adventure to start, Sonic liked the sunsets the most as it allowed him to both see the environments he ran through with light shining over them and witness the added beauty everything gets during the night time.

The hedgehog ran around the many hills and streets, often coming across someone who knew him, and adjusting his speeds depending on his surroundings; speeding up in the open fields while slowing down on the streets where twists and turns had to be done. It was another everyday jog with nothing different for the hero to see, not that he minded it much.

Eventually, Sonic came to a stop on top of one of his favorite hills which gives him an incredible view of both the city and the forest. He stood there for a while, looking at the view beneath him and thinking if there's another place for him to go to before he heard something ringing near him. Recognizing the sound, Sonic pulled out a square shaped yellow device with two antennas and a green screen in the middle of it. On the screen appeared a small drawing of said device which indicated somebody was calling.

When Sonic pressed on it with one of his fingers, the screen showed Tails with what appeared to be a giant battle in the background. "Sonic! Do you copy?" The fox asked with panic in his voice and his face.

"I hear you, Tails." Sonic confirmed. "What's going on in there?"

"Eggman showed up in this new big robot." Tails explained while positioning his communicator to show Sonic the new robot built by the evil doctor. The robot appeared to be tall and most of its limbs were black with the exception of the parts connecting them together, which were colored red. The fists were big and strong, its legs were massive and the overall structure was wide and blocky. On the point where the head might have been, Sonic could have seen the round cockpit which he assumed Eggman was piloting.

"I take it that it's much bigger up close than how it's appearing on-screen." Sonic said, attempting to light the not-so-high mood.

"Knuckles could barely damage this thing." Tails informed, ignoring Sonic's joke. "Eggman has really outdone himself this time."

"Hold tight, buddy. I'll be there in a second." With that promise Sonic hung up the call and speeded away from the hill and towards the fight.

* * *

The part of the city which Eggman was attacking was completely ruined; buildings and locations being turned apart by the enormous robot as civilians were running for their lives. In the face of it all, three figures were standing their grounds. The red echidna named Knuckles, a pink female hedgehog clenching a hammer in her hands named Amy, and the orange two-tailed fox that was Tails.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!" The mad scientist's laughter could have been heard from the top of the robot, his red jacket and brown mustache somewhat visible to the opposing trio. "Do you really think you could beat me now? This robot is literally, and I mean, LITERALLY UNSTOPABLE!" He declared, sure that he has already won the battle.

"It won't be once Sonic arrives!" Amy shouted back at the doctor, hammer still at the ready.

"Let's try and warm it up for him." Knuckles told his two friends before they all charged at the robot. Eggman made the robot send one of its arms at them, causing the three to split. "Amy, got for the legs. Tails, take me up." Knuckles ordered a second before Tails started spinning his two tails, causing him to float in the air before picking Knuckles off the ground. With Tails and Knuckles in the air, Amy ran to the robot's legs and started hitting them with her giant hammer. It might not do much damage, but it could probably distract Eggman's attention from Tails and Knuckles.

Tails carried Knuckles all the way up until Eggman's egg-shaped form was clearly visible through the cockpit's glass. Without wasting any time, the fox spun around and threw Knuckles at the top of the robot. The echidna readied his punch as he flew towards the cockpit before unleashing it and causing it some major damage. When Tails picked Knuckles up again, they noticed Eggman recovering from the hit and glaring to himself.

"Not bad…" He muttered. "But how can you handle a robot powered up by the seven Chaos Emeralds?" Eggman declared, revealing that he had all the seven emeralds in his possession and that he was now using them to power up the robot.

The pair grew scared as they saw the robot power up and a much faster and stronger hand coming right towards them. Tails quickly managed to escape it but he was hit by the other hand, causing him and Knuckles to fall down. With them out of the way, Eggman attempted to stomp Amy as well, as she was still located between his robot's feet.

Just when it all seemed doomed a blue blur showed up and quickly got Amy out of harm's way. It also managed to use its momentum to grab Tails and Knuckles before they landed on the ground. Once they all realized that they have been saved, the blue form of Sonic appeared before them.

"Sonic!" Amy called in happiness.

"Took your time to show up, didn't you?" Knuckles asked, thinking Sonic arrived later than he should have.

"I'm here now." The hedgehog simply replied before addressing Eggman. "I've got to admit. This robot is pretty impressive! It's too bad I'll have to destroy it!" He said with the same old confident smirk, punching his fist against his palm in order to emphasize his words.

"I'd like to see you try!" Eggman declared seconds before one of the robots arms attempted to grab Sonic. The hedgehog managed to escape at the very last second, surprised by how fast that attack was.

"Sonic, the robot is powered up by all of the Chaos Emeralds!" Tails informed. "Regular attacks won't do anything to it."

"So what's the plan to get them out?" Sonic asked while dodging another attack, knowing the Chaos Emeralds are his best chance.

"We need something that's just as strong as the emeralds are in order to break through that armor." Knuckles stated.

"What about the Master Emerald?" Amy asked him as she herself avoided a few of Eggman's attacks.

"It can stop the emeralds momentarily; but it will mean nothing unless we get them out of there." The red echidna explained before attempting to punch the arm sent at him, stopping it, but also getting hit.

"I might have a solution." Tails called as he flew around the area in order to confuse Eggman; coming to a stop when he got near Sonic. "We need you to break the sound barrier." He said, causing the hedgehog's green eyes to widen.

"Tails, no!" Sonic immediately declined.

"You creating a sonic boom is the only thing which could possibly break through this robot!" Tails explained.

"I'm not risking your health again!" Sonic kept arguing.

"We have no choice, otherwise Eggman could hurt many other people!" The fox tried to reason with his best friend. "That's the only thing which could get the emeralds out of there. I know it's dangerous but we have to stop Eggman!"

Sonic looked down with his eyes closed. Deep down he knew he had no choice but to stop the robot using all of his speed, but on the other side what would happen to his friends if they will be exposed to the sonic boom he would cause? He knew that this was the right thing to do, but with his friends in danger because of it he didn't want to be right.

"A little help here!" Knuckles's voice brought Sonic out of his thoughts, him and Amy trying their best to hold their own against Eggman.

Realizing he had to break his own word, Sonic sighed and turned to Tails. "When I tell you to get out of the way, you three are getting as far away from here, okay?" Tails nodded in confirmation before Sonic ran away from the fight.

"What?" Amy asked, shocked that Sonic ran away.

"Ha! Your so-called hero finally gave up!" Eggman mocked. "I must say, I expected him to have a lot more fight in him."

"Tails, where did he go?" Knuckles asked, sounding annoyed.

"He'll be back before you'll know it." Tails said with confidence.

Sonic arrived at a distance which was decent enough for him to achieve Mach 1. If he managed to reach it at a shorter distance at a younger age, this shouldn't be a problem. He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and told Tails it was time to get out of the way and then blasted forward at what he felt was his fastest speed.

"Amy! Knuckles! Get out of the way!" Tails screamed before he quickly flew away from the area. His two friends had no idea what he was talking about, but obliged anyway.

Here it was again; the blue aura. It was no longer a sign to slow down, not this time. Sonic kept accelerating; the color of his surroundings slowly disappearing, the sound getting weaker and the aura seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. He didn't stop, he kept going until eventually the aura disappeared in what Sonic called describe as a glass shattering and not even a second later, it all turned black.

* * *

Several minutes passed since everything turned black and until Sonic regained his senses, but to him it all seemed immediate. Outside of overall body weakness and him getting up from the ground, it appeared to him like no time has passed ever since he ran straight through the giant robot.

When the hedgehog managed to stand up on his feet he looked around himself, noticing how destroyed the street looked. It didn't take him long to realize that his speed and the destruction of the robot combined caused this chaos, he didn't even need Tails to tell him that. Of course, when that thought entered his mind, another one followed.

Turning his head around, Sonic could have seen his three friends lying on the ground as if they were sleeping. Without questioning it, he ran up to them. "Tails? Knuckles? Amy?" Sonic called their names, but they didn't answer. "Guys?" He tried shaking them awake, but to no avail. When Sonic noticed that their fur colors appeared to be much darker and paler than before, he realized that they might not wake up so simply.

Crying was a rare action for Sonic to do, but being the one who apparently caused that big of damage to his friends un-doubly made him shed a few tears. The one thing he promised to himself, swore to himself, that he will never do ended up being the one thing he had to do in order to win, and his friends were the victims.

Seeing Eggman's un-conscious body nearby, along with the broken pieces of the robot he was controlling, made Sonic sigh in disappointment. Even if he stopped him, Eggman still won in some regard. When Sonic thought to himself that Eggman might not have taken over the world he remembered something. The robot was powered up by the Chaos Emeralds, which meant they should be…

As Sonic thought of the emeralds, he located one of them just near one of the robot's arms. He ran up to the glowing blue gem and picked it up, thinking that he might have a way to fix this. After looking around the area he was in for a few minutes, Sonic realized that the other emeralds might have scattered around the town. Holding on to the emerald that he just found, Sonic ran off in a random direction.

* * *

While running across the city Sonic noticed how destroyed it was, and considering that he just ran through there with all of his speed he had a bad feeling that he was responsible. He had to find the other Chaos Emeralds and fast. Luckily for him, the one he held in his hand started glowing brighter which meant he was close to one of them, encouraging him to keep going.

Even through the city was in ruins, building windows shattering and fallen street lights everywhere, Sonic managed to keep all of the bad things he was feeling to himself. Until he's absolutely sure that his plan won't work, he won't give up. He will save his friends and fix the city. With six of the seven Chaos Emeralds already collected, Sonic had only one more to find.

The final emerald was found shortly after the sixth one, much to Sonic's relief. Now that he had all of the emeralds with him, it was time to test his plan out. The hedgehog ran back to where his friends were, coming to a halt once he arrived at the destination. Looking at his friends' pale forms in shame and holding one of the emeralds in hope, Sonic knew what he had to do. "It worked with six emeralds that time… I don't see what it shouldn't work with all seven."

After he tried to put confidence in himself, Sonic placed the emeralds on the ground in a circle. He stepped into the middle of it and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he relaxed his body and concentrated on good thoughts about his friends and how he's about to save them. Sonic could feel the emeralds rising up, from the ground and starting to spin around him. He could also felt himself starting to slightly hover above the ground as the emeralds' power started flowing throughout his body. He went through this transformation many times before; feeling his quills perking upwards and his fur turning from blue to golden yellow.

Once the transformation completed, Sonic opened his eyes and stared forward at the endless destruction before him that he had caused, knowing that the power of the emeralds could stop this chaos and bring back the life it once had. Looking at his friends one last time, Sonic addressed them. "I will make this right." He said before disappearing in a golden flash.

Sonic always knew that his super form was faster than what he regularly was, so him being able to almost reach a sonic boom without much effort as it took in his regular state was no surprise. It wasn't long before the blue aura appeared in front of him as he flew in magnificent speeds; breaking almost immediately after Sonic achieved it. The color and sound also vanished as soon as Sonic started speeding up and he was about to reach the moment when it will all go to black again.

He kept going and going, not slowing down for even a second to think. He had to know if his plan would work, even if he was sure it will. When his vision darkened again, Sonic knew that he probably caused another sonic boom and might have even gone above it. He almost didn't want to stop, and he didn't until he was sure he had to.

* * *

When Tails woke up he felt a massive headache, which continued as he tried to get up from the ground and stand up. The city seemed to be fine, looking just like it did before Eggman attacked. Realizing that the last thing he remembered was fighting Eggman, Tails turned around and saw the robot they fought broken and dissembled while the doctor himself just went back into his Egg-Mobile and flew away; once again accepting defeat.

The next thing Tails heard was Knuckles and Amy waking up as well. He rushed to help them up and make sure they are okay. "Did we win?" Knuckles asked him as soon as he stood up.

"I think we did…" He replied, pointing to the broken robot.

"Where's Sonic?" Amy's question caught Tails by surprise. Where was Sonic? The last thing he remembered was telling him that he had to reach Mach 1; and the next thing after that he just woke up and saw Eggman fly away.

"I… I don't know…" Tails replied sadly and un-surely.

As the three friends debated on what happened to their blue friend, a golden flash of light appeared in front of them. They quickly recognized what that was, smiling at the uplifting sight. The light then fell to the ground, turning into a blue hedgehog that lay on his knees and hands on the road while the seven Chaos Emeralds ejected from his body and land in a circle shape around him.

Sonic breathed heavily from all the effort he just let out, not even able to open his eyes yet. He was tired and excused, believing he had never managed to move that fast before. He might have just reached light speed during those last few seconds, something which he never did. Even though he was tired, one voice helped him regain some of his energy back.

"Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog would recognize that voice everywhere. Managing to open his eyes slightly, Sonic saw Tails looking at him; alive, well and joined by Knuckles and Amy. "Guys, you're okay!" He managed to say while giving all of them a big hug. His plan worked, he had saved his friends.

"So, what exactly happened after you ran off in the middle of the fight?" Knuckles asked him.

"Can I tell you over a chili-dog?" Sonic quickly asked. "This last thing I did made me hungry…" He pointed out, causing his friends to laugh. The four friends did get themselves Sonic's favorite food, eating it as he told them what exactly happened after he ran off. Their eyes were wide when he told them what he accidently caused, and were even more surprised by the solution. As they reacted to his story, Sonic felt so good to have his friends back with him.

Later on, Sonic returned to the same hill he stood on before Tails called him, watching the city yet again. As he stared, he started thinking about what he had pulled off today. It was an achievement in a way, but he then realized that he has broken his one rule. Granted, he had no choice, but it still felt wrong to him in a way. Then again, something about this fact made him feel a lot more free and at ease with himself.

* * *

Back then he didn't know if there was a solution to what will happen if he will accidently reach Mach 1, now he knew there was. It doesn't mean he will reach this kind of speed during every jog, but it didn't really matter now if he will. He'll know what to do if that will happen again.

"Hey, Sonic?" Tails's voice suddenly brought Sonic back to reality from his thoughts. "What are you doing?"

"Thinking about today." He simply answered. "All these years I lived in fear of what will happen if I reach this speed again. Like the day I hurt you. But now, I know I can fix this. I know there's a way to undo the damage I can cause." Sonic stated with a sigh of relief. "It feels great to not have this fear anymore…"

"So what now?" Tails asked.

"I'm thinking about taking a vacation…" Sonic stated. "Just me and my speed for a few days. You said Eggman's gone; that gives me enough time to relax."

"You're not going to cause sonic booms left and right now, are you?" Tails asked at the thought of Sonic going on a big trip on his own with his new knowledge.

"What would give you that idea?" They both laughed for a few seconds. "But seriously, no I won't… I'm not doing it unless it's a final resort." He stated.

Following a few seconds of talking with Tails, Sonic decided it was time for him to head out. He waved Tails good-bye and blasted away in a random direction. It was a new time for him, a time when he had no fear regarding his trademark ability, and he was about to enjoy this time to its fullest…

THE END

* * *

 **Note: NO! There is no hidden joke about the "Sonic Boom" franchise in this story! When I said the sonic boom caused damage, it's because a real sonic boom is dangerous. No pun regarding that Wii U game intended!**

 **Okay, so to the more important note of this story. I don't know if whoever is reading this has read any of my other stories on the site or if he/she just found me through this one-shot, but this is, for the time being, my last story. I'm starting film school the day after this is posted, therefor I won't have much time to waste on writing FanFictions as I used to have. So, since my first story was a Sonic one and since he's still my favorite character of all time, I thought it will be the one story I'm going out with. And yes, the final part of Sonic taking a vacation is kind of representing me taking a break from this hobby. And just like Sonic, who found a solution to his fear, I'm going on this break with a lot more confidence in myself.**

 **Two and a half years ago, when I joined this site, I wasn't fond of my story ideas and thought I was crazy. I don't know what came over me when I thought "Let's upload these crazy ideas and stories online", but I'm glad I did because it seemed people liked what I wrote. If the person reading this now read any of my other stories and left a comment telling me that he/she enjoyed it, just know that this meant the world to me. Even if the person reading this just disscovered me, as long as you enjoyed this, I'm good. So I'm somewhat quiting with the knowledge that people think I'm good at this, which I wasn't expecting back when I started.**

 **Also, no. I'm not deleting anything from my profile. All the stories will stay there and I myself will still be around if you want to PM me for whatever reason(Feedback, betaing, or just chatting in general). I will still reply to reviews and everything, I just won't post any new stories for the time being. So with all that said, good-bye! Thanks for reading this overly long AN and if you ever reviewed, followed or favorited something of mine!**

 **So one last time; I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a reivew if you got something to say and I'll catch you all later!**


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